Program provides more than language learning

Africa is home to over 1,700 languages, which account for one-third of the languages spoken around the world. This summer and next summer IU is home to the Summer Cooperative African Language Institute, a program that offers courses in 13 of these languages and the cultures of the people who speak them. \n52 graduate students and 22 undergraduate students from all over the country are spending four hours in class everyday for the second summer session and attending special speaking groups outside of class. This intensive schedule will allow them to accomplish a year's worth of work in only eight weeks.\nThe fast pace makes the program "exciting" for students because they can see how much progress they're making, according to Maria Grosz-Ngaté, associate director of African Studies. \nGrosz-Ngaté also thinks that the smaller class sizes make the program more enjoyable.\n"The professors are very engaged," she said. "Because the classes are small they can make classes more exciting."\nAkinsola Ogundeji, a native of Nigeria and an instructor of the Yoruba language, has a class of only four students.\n"It's good for classroom management," he said. "You can give students one-on-one attention."\nOgundeji is impressed with the students' progress in the short time he has been teaching them.\n"I think the students are doing great," he said. "It has only been three weeks and they can do a lot of things with the language."\nLike Ogundeji, the other 16 SCALI instructors are native speakers of the languages they teach, so they are also able to teach their students about the people who speak the languages. \nFor the students, knowing about the culture behind the languages is essential because most will be going to Africa to pursue careers in research or other fields. The instructors teach the students about dress, proper greetings and how to behave in daily situations.\n"The programs are context-based," said Dr. Alwiya Omar, director of the SCALI program. "When students go to different countries, they will be able to interact with (the natives) and use the appropriate cultural nouns and greetings."\nIn addition to class time, students have many opportunities to interact with each other and share what they have learned. There are forums every Wednesday night where students share information about their research. Toward the end of the program, there will be a night where students will sing songs for each other in their new languages and a night where they will perform skits for each other. There will also be cooking sessions beginning soon, according to Omar.\nThe community is invited to participate in the program by attending the African film series being held at the Buskirk-Chumley Theater. Films from different parts of Africa will be shown in languages from their respective regions with English subtitles every Tuesday night through August 2.\nEveryone involved in the program encourages the community to watch the movies and learn about Africa because they agree that the most important part of the program is sharing culture with others.\n"This kind of program is good for cross-cultural interaction," Ogundeji said. "Today everyone wants peace, and one way we could get peace is by doing something like this. When you know someone's culture, you know them better ... and (you) are able to understand (their) opinions"